The NFL partnered up with Ad Council to create a public service announcement about love, fueled by love. At the Pro Bowl in Orlando, the PSA was a simple Kiss Cam that included many different kinds of couples: same-sex, interracial, elderly, disabled. The message was simple: love comes in many forms but nonetheless, love is love. It seems fitting that the PSA was given in Orlando, the same city where a shooting leaving 50 dead occurred at the gay nightclub, Pulse. While this announcement was beautiful and empowering, it was public, and anyone could see it. This brings rise to the questions, was it appropriate to show the same-sex couple with children in the audience? Yes, it was completely appropriate. Homosexuality isn’t “inappropriate” for children. Public representation such as PSAs can improve tolerance, acceptance, and encourage queer youth.
Throughout history, homosexuality, and queerness in general, has held a negative stigma, often being associated with evil and promiscuity. With the outbreak of HIV in late 20th century, the stigma worsened and many Americans believed that homosexualty was dirty and being gay would make one diseased.
For years, queer people have been fighting against the negative stigma and for positive representation in the media. In the same way as opposite-sex relationships, same-sex relationships can be and are gentle, caring, and loving. Simply, the goal of having positive representation is to show that gay people are real people that exist. They live and breath just like anyone else and they are not just people you hear about. Regardless of religious beliefs, positive representation humanizes LGBT+ people and allows children to be at the least, tolerant and accepting. Even further, representation can convey the message that “Gay is OK” and there is a community of people ready to support any youth who may need it. While doing these things, representation works to erase the negative stigma.
Growing up, like anyone else, I was fully aware of the existence of opposite-sex couples and the love one can feel from them. However, I was not provided the same awareness about same-sex couples. Granted, there are many more shows and places where acceptance is taught at an early age, there are still many areas where gay people “don’t exist” to children. This can hinder tolerance and acceptance and leave queer youth conflicted and confused.
So again, was it inappropriate to include a same-sex couple in the Love PSA at the Pro Bowl? Absolutely not. It was a thoughtful gesture that promoted acceptance and equality while giving positive representation to the LGBT+ community. I was happy to see the PSA reminding us that wherever we are, love is love.
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